For almost two years now I have felt like my daughter was a little bit heavier than most little girls her age. My husband is on the same page as myself. We both have busy schedules. He is an EMT and in the fire academy. I bartend nights and attend class part time during the day. We get help with the kids two nights a week from his parents. I would say our kids are about as active as most kids are for their age. We have another child who is 8. My daughter can be difficult at times. It seems like she snacks out of boredom. When I tell her no that she just ate something or just had lunch she tells me she is still hungry. I don't feel like she is fat however, I have a difficult time shopping for her. All bottoms have to be elastic waist band. I don't want to put her on a diet but at the same time we both feel like we need to alter something in the house now. Oh, and to make matters more difficult, when the kids are at their grandparents, the give them whatever they want and really won't listen to our pleas of healthy eating choices. I feel like these bad choices are having more of an affect on our daughter than son. Help!
She's 47 inches tall. The women in my husband's family all have weight issues. I feel bad thinking that she could be on the line of having a weight issue as time passes but at the same time I don't want to overlook something that could be going on. I definitely need to alter some of our habits as a whole. It will be tough on her part. She craves chocolate milk! We cut back on mac n cheese and pastas. On the positive side she loves fruit and veggies. She is not a huge fan of protein though. She is due for her six year check up so I will address my concerns there as well.
Whoever shops can control the choices available for everyone.
That said--she's 6. My son (8) has 20 lbs on his best buddy and neither is overweight. They are just completely different body types.
What does the pediatrician say about her BMI?
Snacks of fruits and veggies can be unlimited. You can get a "snack basket" and stock it per day. When the snacks are gone--they're gone.
It's easy...she can't eat something that is not in the house, so if what she is snacking on are chips, crackers, cookies, anything processed, etc., do not buy them any more! Same goes for soda, "sports drinks" like Gatorade, Vitamin Water, Kool-Aid, etc. (when my stepsons were small, my biggest pet peeves were Pop Tarts and Lunchables - their mom would buy them for them but I refused).
If she must have chocolate milk, make it yourself and only add a very small amount of chocolate (my DD is fine if it's just barely got a hint of brown) - the stuff that's already pre-made often has as much sugar as soda. If she drinks juice, start watering it down. Make sure she is getting enough fresh water since sometimes being thirsty can feel like being hungry - you can add a squeeze of lemon or lime for flavor if needed. Or make ice cubes out of juice so again, they flavor the water, and the juice gets watered down.
If she needs to snack on something, provide fresh fruit (not canned), veggies like carrot and celery sticks, small numbers of nuts or raisins. Combinations of protein and whole grain carbs or fiber are good, like low-fat peanut butter with apple slices or low-fat cheese with Wheat Thins.
Buy the whole grain versions of bread, cereals, pastas, rice, etc. Make sure she is getting plenty of fiber, since this can help her feel fuller longer (again, fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc.). Make more things from scratch where you can alter the amount of sugar or fat in it, or eliminate it completely, like pumpkin muffins with whole wheat flour and oat flour. Make smoothies with low-fat yogurt, milk, and fruit. Milk should be 1% fat or less.
One rule of thumb for grocery shopping is to only buy foods with ingredients you can pronounce and don't sound like something out of a chemistry lab. If someone 100 years ago would not recognize it as food, it's probably not a good idea. Also, in a grocery store, the healthiest, most natural stuff is around the outside (fruits, veggies, etc.) - the bad stuff is usually lurking down the aisles.
If you just make some healthy changes at home, you don't need to talk to her about a "diet". And if she does indulge at her grandparents some, it's not the end of the world. But I would still talk to them and present like it's something her pediatrician and/or dentist recommended.
Get her involved in some physical activity, if possible. Find something she enjoys, or just try different things - soccer, swimming, dance, riding bikes, anything that gets her moving. And see what can be done to help alleviate any "boredom" if that is an issue - maybe the grandparents can play board games with her, rather than just letting her snack all the time. Or have the grandparents watch her at your house, so you are still in control of the food that is available.
There are on-line BMI calculators (body mass index) that can help determine if, based on height and weight and age, if she is possibly overweight or not. Some of it may be genetic, but that doesn't mean you can't make some changes now.
Since the women in your hubby's family have weight issues do they have Polycystic Ovary Syndrom? It is inherited and causes a lot of issues including lower chance of ever having a child, miscarriages, diabetes, heart disease. Just in case you might want to mention it to her ped and do some reading up on it. If this is an issue you will want to instill really healthy eating habits now to help prevent the diabetes and heart disease later in life.
My oldest daughter has this we didn't know until she was in her 20's, I think both her grandma's had it too but not sure.
I recommend the book, Eat This Not That for Kids. I found an interesting WebMD article about it:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/eat-this-not-that-for-...
Make this a The Whole Family's Going to Start Eating Healthier thing. Take both of your kids to see a nutritionist, so the focus is not your daughter and her weight. They are very good at coming up with alternatives once they know what foods your child likes. Even snack ideas you may never have even thought of. I took my son to one because he was underweight (picky eater) and she was a big help.
I also recommend googling "how parents can prevent eating disorders" because any time a child has a weight issue, there is that potential down the road. I know 2 women who had eating disorders in their teen years, so I think it is good information for parents to have.
Would it be possible for your MIL and FIL to watch the children at your house instead? You could invent some reason for it so there aren't hard feelings. Then you would have control of the food your kids get on those nights.
Hope at least some of this was helpful :)
Good luck!
Make sure you don't buy any junk food at the store, not even for you. =) Let her have a treat once a week and buy healthier treats from sprouts or health food places. Unless your daughter is at her grandparents every day, I don't think their habits will affect your daughter. Make sure you offer her fruits and veggies every day and only have healthy food in your home.
Go by the Pediatrician.
Also, at the Grandparents,
Maybe they do just sit the kids in front of the TV and feed them whatever or junk.
As you said.
My friend, the in-laws watch her kids as well.
THEY feed the kids JUNK. AND sweets and chocolate and basically anything her kids are craving. They feed and feed the kids and just have them watch TV. And yes, the kids DO get bored at the Grandparents.
She has talked to them... but well, they do not listen.
They feel feeding the Grandkids 'treats' is their way of treating the kids.
And her daughter, is a bit robust.
But her Pediatrician, mentioned it as well.
GO by what your Pediatrician says.
Also though, when kids are going through growth-spurts, they eat a TON. And frequently. BOTH my kids are that way. Then they grow a ton in length. But my kids don't eat out of boredom. The eat per their body's cues for hunger or fullness.
So, explore and observe ALL environments that your daughter is in. Because it is not only at home, that they eat/are fed/have just boredom.
I think you are rightly concerned, and kudos for you for trying to change this now, before it becomes a life-time habit that is hard for your daughter to break.
Unfortunately, studies show that when grandparents watch the grandkids, the kids have a higher risk of being overweight: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8513112.stm
I would strongly encourage you to find other childcare if the grandparents are not willing to make immediate and drastic changes.
I would also strongly encourage you to address theses concerns with the pediatrician. Often, hearing these concerns from a "real authority" (as opposed to the parents), the kids will believe and understand the consequences better. Then, see if you can get an appointment/referral with a pediatric nutritionist (with follow-ups), to help get more in-depth help on this.
Commit to 1 hour of physical activity per day, and try to get the kids outside more. Even just getting them outside more will help--it's hard to sit around when you're outside. :) See if you can enroll her in an activity she likes (my "thing" was horseback riding--I'd shovel manure and get sweaty and dirty at the barn no problem, but didn't want to play "sports" on a team).
And as another poster said, research polycystic ovary syndrome.
You didn't say how tall your daughter is and how much she weighs, so it's hard to tell if she's "heavier"...also, there's a pretty big range of "normal" at this age...I wouldn't worry about it! A little bigger is not the same as obese, and you know in your heart whether or not you really have a problem.
Only stock healthy snacks where they are accessible to her...keep unhealthy treats put away where she can't get to them, would be my advice. Make sure you've got plenty of fruit, yogurts (that come in so many flavors!), even pudding...
I just realized you said something about elastic bands. My daughter is in the 98% for weight, but I have trouble keeping pants on her...I have to cinch them all up with the little elastic bands and buttons they put in everything now. Of course, when she sits down, they dig into her tummy. I think that's just typical of a young childs body, not necessarily a statement of how big they are.
Just to give you a range, my daughter (turning six in a few days) is ALMOST four feet tall and weighs about 54 lbs. :)
I have no advice on the grandparent situation, other than to talk to them about it. Seems like grandparents feel like they can do what they want. :(
Just a quick chocolate milk tip - we all love chocolate milk in our house, but we also like to be healthy, so we drink skim milk. I buy Hershey's dark chocolate syrup. Just a very small amount of that makes skim milk super chocolatey, and it's not bad for you at all. :)
